Locking shelf bracket support structure

ABSTRACT

A lockable coupling is provided for shelving assemblies employing bracket members and upright members which are assembled to each other in a cantilever fashion. The coupling incorporates hook-shaped projections at the end of the bracket members which engage receiving slots in the upright members, and in addition, a spring biased bar is provided at the end of the bracket member which springs outward into one of the receiving slots in the upright member upon completion of assembly of the two members.

United States Patent Shell 1 Oct. 10,1972

LOCKING SHELF BRACKET SUPPORT STRUCTURE Inventor: Irving W. Shell, 442Wellington Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60657 Filed: Jan. 12, 1970 Appl. No.12,106

u.s. Cl ..248/243, 248/224 Int. Cl. ..A47g 29/02 Field of Search..248/73, 224, 241, 243;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1907 Thomas ..248/243 12/ 1910Freeman ..248/243 1 H1923 Gorsline ..248/243 8/1938 Zimbalist ..248/243FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 810,026 4/1969 Canada ..211/176 PrimaryExaminer-William l-l. Schultz Attorney--Richard E. Klein ABSTRACT Alockable coupling is provided for shelving assemblies employing bracketmembers and upright members which are assembled to each other in acantilever fashion. The coupling incorporates hook-shaped projections atthe end of the bracket members which engage receiving slots in theupright members, and in addition, a spring biased bar is provided at theend of the bracket member which springs outward into one of thereceiving slots in the upright member upon completion of assembly of thetwo members.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUUBT 10 m2 BY IRV/NG R/ I SHELLATTORNEY LOCKING SHELF BRACKET SUPPORT STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to display and shelving assemblies heldtogether by interlocking upright and bracket components and moreparticularly to a lockable coupling for such assemblies.

Shelving systems using interlocking components are commonly used tosupport commercial merchandising displays as well as in home decorarrangements where ease of installation, flexibility, portability, andcost are important factors. The basic components of such systemscomprise slotted upright members which are usually mounted vertically,and structural members such as brackets equipped for engaging saidupright members in a cantilever fashion. These interlocking members formthe skeleton of the shelving system. They are used to support shelves,cabinets and various other fixtures which are used to make up integratedmerchandising and storage units.

A disadvantage of many such shelving systems has been the tendency forthe interlocking uprights and bracket members to loosen and moverelative to one another. This was especially troublesome wherein aparticular bracket was used to form a pedestal at the base of an uprightto make a free standing shelving unit. In such an arrangement, theforces acting on the bracket leg member are opposite to the usualloading forces and tend to uncouple the bracket from the upright. Forthis and other reasons it is desirable to have bracket members which arecapable of being locked to the upright members to prevent theiraccidental separation after assembly.

One method of locking the members in the past has been to bolt theupright and bracket members together. However this defeated the majoradvantages of such shelving systems, as they were more difficult toassemble and disassemble and were therefore rendered more complex andless flexible. Also the holes drilled in the various system members andthe necessary additional hardware tended to weaken the structure as wellas to make it more expensive. Another disadvantage is that most methodsof providing lockable couplings which use additional hardware areincompatible with existing systems using the basic bracket and uprightmembers described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a locking bracket support which requires no hardware to effectlocking.

A further object is to provide a locking bracket support which isreadably unlocked for disassembly.

A still further object is to provide a locking bracket support which iscompatible with existing shelving systems and upright members.

In accordance with my invention a locking coupling is provided forshelving assemblies including at least one upright member having atleast one wall with vertically spaced slots located therein and abracket member having hook-shaped projections adapted to enter andinterlock said slots upon vertical movement therein. The bracket memberincludes a moveable projection both positioned and outwardly biased sothat upon assembly of said bracket member to said upright member saidmoveable projection is caused to enter one of said slots to therebyprevent substantially all relative vertical movement between saidbracket member and said upright member. Disassembly is effected by usinga suitable tool, such as an ordinary screwdriver, to retract the lockingbar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These as well as other features andadvantages of the present invention will be better understood by readingthe following detailed description together with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bracket member engaged in an uprightsupport member.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a bracket incorporating the lockingfeature of the present invention.

FIGS. 3a and 3b show a cutaway plan view of a bracket memberincorporating the invention respectively as it is being inserted intothe upright member and as it appears when in a locked position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a bracketmember 1 is shown assembled to an upright member 2. Hook-shapedprojections 5 and 6 (FIG. 2) engage one wall of the upright member 2 toform a secure coupling therewith. The bracket member 1 is firstpositioned so that the projections 5 and 6 extend through slots 3located in the said one wall and then is pushed downward so that theprojections engage said one wall. Without my invention the bracket couldbe released from the upright member by an upward force to disengage thehooked projection from the one wall of the upright and allow the removalof said projections from the slots.

Referring to FIG. 2, the details of my invention will now be described.In the end of the bracket member 1, a third projection 7 is provided.This projection is called a locking bar. The locking bar 7 is preferablyof the said width as the projections 5 and 6 so that it may enter one ofthe slots 3 provided in the standard upright member 2. Unlike thehook-shaped projections 5 and 6, the locking bar 7 is dimensionedlengthwise so that it substantially fills one of the slots 3 in theupright member 2. In the preferred embodiment illustrated the bar 7 isthe same width as the projections 5 and 6. The vertical dimension of thebar 7 together with that of projection 6 is slightly smaller than thevertical dimension of a slot 3.

In an alternate embodiment (not illustrated) the locking bar 7 has avertical dimension which itself substantially fills a slot 3. Such a baris positioned on the end of a bracket member so that it is aligned witha slot in an upright member upon assembly, i.e., when the bracket memberis pushed downward to engage the wall of the upright with one or more ofthe conventional hooked shaped projections also located on the end ofthe bracket member.

FIGS. 3a and 3b show the operational and structural details of thepreferred bracket structure embodiment described above and illustratedin FIG. 2. FIG. 3a shows the bracket member 1 as it appears when it isinserted into the upright 2. The maximum vertical dimension ofhook-shaped projections 5 and 6 is limited to the vertical dimension ofthe slots 3 in the wall of the upright l. The locking bar projection 7is attached to a flexible strip 8, preferably constructed from a stripof spring steel. One end of the strip 8 is attached to the rear end ofthe locking bar and the other end is attached to any suitable portion ofthe bracket by fastening means such as rivet 9.

FIG. 3b depicts the bracket in its locked position. Locking is achievedby applying a downward force to the bracket member once it is inposition shown in FIG. 3a. When the hook-shaped projections 5 and 6engage the wall of the upright member 2 and are positioned in the lowerportion of the slots 3, the locking bar 7 springs outward into theunoccupied portion of the same slot that is partially occupied byprojection 6. The effect of this is many fold. First, the bracket issecurely locked in the upright member as the hook-shaped projections canno longer be moved upwards to release the bracket. Secondly, the bracketbecomes equally capable of supporting upwardly directed loading forcesas well as downwardly directed loading forces. This result is achievedbecause the locking bar transfers any upward loading force to the upperportion of the hooked shape projection 6. Third, the locking and supportaction described above is achieved without the need of special uprightmembers, additional hardware, or assembly tools of any kind.

To unlock the assembly shown in FIG. 3 the locking bar is depressed sothat it is clear of the slot 3. Most upright members are constructedwith one side having an open portion. This portion 4, shown in FIGS. 1and 3, greatly facilitates the insertion of a suitable tool, such as ascrewdriver, to depress the locking bar and thereby unlock the bracket 1from the upright 2.

It is apparent that the locking bar may be of different design than theone shown in this embodiment. For ex ample it may consist of anoutwardly biased resilient strip formed by cutting an inverted-shapedslit in a portion of the end part of the bracket member itself. Theupper end of such a strip would engage the top edge of a slot 3 in anupright member upon complete engagement of the upright unconventionalhooked shaped projections. Also the locking bar may be a separatemember, or it can be formed integral with the spring bias means used tourge said means in an outward axial direction along said bracket member.

The primary use of this lockable coupling is in the area of shelvingassemblies of cantilever construction.

Other uses and embodiments of my invention are possible withoutdeparting from the concept disclosed herein as set forth in thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A locking coupling for shelving assemblies including an uprightmember having one wall with vertically spaced slots located therein anda bracket member including a hollowed end portion having at least twooutwardly extending hook-shaped members vertically positioned one abovethe other, said hook-shaped members being dimensioned to be receivableinto successive ones of said slots and provide an engagement with saidone wall upon relative vertical downward movement of the bracket memberinto a position of engagement with said upright member, whereupon anopening is left at the upper portion of each of said successive ones ofsaid slots above said received hook shaped members, comprising:

a rectangular bar member having a cross section dimensioned tosubstantially till the opening left at the upper portion of one of saidslots when one of said hook-shaped members has been inserted and thebracket member moved into said position of engagement; and

means including a spring member secured to said bracket member forpositioning said rectangular bar member within said bracket member whileallowing said bar member to move axially within said bracket member in aplane perpendicular to said wall in said upright member, saidrectangular bar member being positioned above one of said hookshapedmembers so as to be receivable with the opening provided after said onehook shaped member has been moved to said position of engagement, saidbar member being outwardly biased by said spring member to cause saidrectangular bar to project beyond said hollowed end portion of saidbracket member and to allow said bar member to retract to a positionwithin said hollowed end portion when said bar member is urged against asolid portion of said upright member upon entry of said hook-shapedmembers into said vertically spaced slots and prior to interlockingtherewith, and wherein said means including a spring member is locatedwithin said hollowed end portion of said bracket member.

1. A locking coupling for shelving assemblies including an upright member having one wall with vertically spaced slots located therein and a bracket member including a hollowed end portion having at least two outwardly extending hook-shaped members vertically positioned one above the other, said hookshaped members being dimensioned to be receivable into successive ones of said slots and provide an engagement with said one wall upon relative vertical downward movement of the bracket member into a position of engagement with said upright member, whereupon an opening is left at the upper portion of each of said successive ones of said slots above said received hook shaped members, comprising: a rectangular bar member having a cross section dimensioned to substantially fill the opening left at the upper portion of one of said slots when one of said hook-shaped members has been inserted and the bracket member moved into said position of engagement; and means including a spring member secured to said bracket member for positioning said rectangular bar member within said bracket member while allowing said bar member to move axially within said bracket member in a plane perpendicular to said wall in said upright member, said rectangular bar member being positioned above one of said hook-shaped members so as to be receivable with the opening provided after said one hook shaped member has been moved to said position of engagement, said bar member being outwardly biased by said spring member to cause said rectangular bar to project beyond said hollowed end portion of said bracket member and to allow said bar member to retract to a position within said hollowed end portion when said bar member is urged against a solid portion of said upright member upon entry of said hook-shaped members into said vertically spaced slots and prior to interlocking therewith, and wherein said means including a spring member is located within said hollowed end portion of said bracket member. 